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Myrran
Myrran is one of the 18 different Retorts available for customizing and empowering Wizards in Master of Magic. The Myrran Wizard will start his game in the world of Myrror, with his Fortress inside a Town belonging to one of the Myrran Races. This can have a significant impact on the difficulty of the game in many ways. Additionally, the Wizard's Fortress generates an extra . When creating a new Wizard, the Myrran Retort costs 3 picks, and is thus the most expensive Retort. It may not be acquired after the start of a campaign. Description The playable universe of Master of Magic consists not of one world, but of two: Arcanus and Myrror, two separate Planes that are directly connected inextricably to one another. The majority of wizards vying to control these worlds will set up their budding empire on Arcanus, a fairly tame world and easy to colonize. Their first followers will be from among the weaker species that dwell there, and they will have to make do with the relatively limited resources available on that world. The Myrran Wizard, on the other hand, sets the seat of his empire in the dark lands of Myrror. This world bears many similarities to Arcanus, but its differences are abundant as well. It has a stronger link to the magical realms - thus offering powerful sources of magic to be tapped - but contains far more dangerous creatures that have crept in from those realms. The races that dwell in Myrror, and from which the wizard may recruit his initial followers, are also far more powerful - adapted to living in this strange environment. Thus, the Myrran Wizard begins his quest for power at an advantageous position compared to his rivals on Arcanus, but must overcome the far greater dangers that lurk upon that world, during the formative period of his empire. The interplay between greater risks and greater rewards makes the Myrran wizard's life more interesting, more challenging, but potentially much shorter. Effects Myrran is the most expensive and arguably most influential Retort available in Master of Magic. Any Wizard possessing this Retort will begin his game commanding a Town in the world of Myrror instead of Arcanus, populated by one of the Myrran Races. This will have wide-ranging effects on the Wizard's campaign, often making it harder in the early game, but much easier later on. Myrran Race Choice At the end of the Wizard-creation process, the player is asked to choose a Race that will populate his/her starting Town. Most wizards may choose only from the 9 Arcanian Races, which are mostly balanced against one another. The Myrran Wizard will instead be able to choose from any of the 14 Races available in the game - including any of the 5 Myrran Races. These extra races are significantly superior to the Arcanian Races in many different ways, offering very powerful advantages. * Beastmen can create very powerful and versatile armies, allowing for a variety of strategies and tactics to be employed. * Dark Elves generate , and provide powerful units. * Draconian units can all fly, and they are overall an advanced race that can build a strong economy. * Dwarves are extremely hardy, and also produce units, buildings and resources at a fantastic rate. * Trolls, while quite primitive, field one of the strongest armies in the game. With one of these strong races as your starting choice, and a strategy tailored to exploit that race's strengths, a Myrran Wizard should be capable of tackling the dangers of Myrror and win the various prizes scattered throughout that world. Once transit into Arcanus becomes possible, the wizard should already be commanding a powerful army capable of crushing any opposition from the weaker races residing on that world. You may pick one of the Arcanian Races as your starting race, despite the Myrran Retort. This usually gives an extra challenge, and rarely if ever an advantage. The rest of this article remains true regardless of your selected starting race. Myrran Fortress Town Regardless of the chosen race, the Wizard's starting Fortress Town will be located somewhere in the world of Myrror. From the start of the game, and as long as the Fortress remains anywhere on Myrror, the Wizard gains a bonus to his/her generation each turn, equal to exactly . Power may be spent on generating additional , speeding up Research, or increasing one's Spell Skill, as you see fit. While this extra bonus is quite small in late-game terms, early on it provides a significant advantage. This will be extremely necessary however, since a Myrran wizard will often need as much extra as can be acquired in order to survive and make progress on Myrror at all. If the Myrran Wizard is banished, she will lose this extra production until she can cast the Spell of Return. If the Fortress is ever moved to a town in Arcanus, the Wizard will also lose this bonus. The bonus can be regained if the Fortress is then moved back to Myrror. For more information on this, see the Fortress article. Strategic Advantages and Disadvantages Starting your game on Myrror carries both advantages and disadvantages. For a full discussion, consult the article about Myrror. Fewer Nearby Rivals On the upside, Myrror is home to few wizards (usu. only one or two). Indeed, in version 1.2 of the game (as well as earlier versions), a player can guarantee the absence of all other wizards from Myrror by selecting Sss'ra (or by creating a custom wizard and selecting Sss'ra as the custom picture). Even without this quasi-exploit, a Myrran Wizard can expect lighter opposition from his rivals early on. Access between the worlds will usually only become available later in the game, and by this time a Myrran Wizard will have already consolidated his position in preparation. It is even possible to block access to Myrror entirely, to buy oneself more time. Extra Resources, Rewards and Power Making progress on the plane of Myrror is appropriately more rewarding. Virtually any victory or conquest carries a substantial benefit - if it can be managed at all. For starters, Myrror contains far more valuable Minerals than Arcanus, including some that do not appear on Arcanus at all ( Adamantium Ore and Crysx Crystals). They can be exploited by colonizing or conquering towns in their vicinity. This often allows such a town to produce far more resources than any Arcanian town ever could. Additionally, any Encounter you win on Myrror - while harder (see below) - provides suitably better rewards. Myrran Nodes, in particular, tend to reward players with Rare and Very Rare spells, and it is not uncommon to acquire extra Spellbooks and even Retorts as Treasure here. High-value items are also fairly common rewards for almost all Encounters on this plane. Finally, all Nodes on Myrror control, on average, twice as many terrain tiles, and therefore produce twice as much . Although Nodes are far harder to conquer, you only need to control a few in order to generate vast amounts of Power - thus increasing your strength and enabling you to liberate more and more Nodes. Eventually, a Myrran wizard should be able to produce enough Power to fuel an unbeatable invasion into Arcanus. Added Risk On the downside, Myrror is a considerably more dangerous place than Arcanus. Neutral cities on Myrror are far better defended, since they are populated by the stronger Myrran races. If your selected starting race was also one of the Myrran races, then at least most fights will be winnable with just your Normal Units. Otherwise, plenty of Fantastic Units may be required to defeat these neutral towns. Though some Encounter zones will be either empty or lightly-defended, the maximum strength of defenders on Myrror will be far greater than that on Arcanus. You may meet some truly indomitable armies, commanded by top-tier Fantastic Units (like Great Wyrms, Great Drakes or even Sky Drakes), especially when attempting to take a Node or Tower on this plane. Again, as explained above, the rewards for such battles are also incredibly valuable - if you can win at all! Finally, the Rampaging Monster and Raider armies that will periodically appear on Myrror are significantly stronger than those appearing on Arcanus. This poses a serious danger to the player's towns, particularly in the early game. It may be difficult or even impossible to survive some of these attacks early on. Later, however, these threats become less and less significant as the player's armies become equally or more powerful. Faster Expansion A final benefit for wizards on Myrror is the fact that all Roads constructed there are automatically converted into Enchanted Roads. There is no need to cast the Enchant Road spell on them for this to happen. This type of roads allows most units to move across them without spending any movement points. An army can travel incredible distances over an Enchanted Road within a single turn. However, note that this applies equally to the Wizard's units and to his enemies, meaning that these roads are both a benefit and a liability! Cost and Requirements When creating a new Wizard, the Myrran Retort consumes 3 picks, making it the most expensive Retort available. It does not have any prerequisites. Note that the cost is not reduced if you choose an Arcanian Race as your starting race. This choice often simply adds challenge. Finally, note that Myrran is the only Retort that cannot be acquired at all after the game has begun. That is intentional, since this Retort offers no benefits whatsoever beyond the starting conditions of the campaign. If it were allowed to be acquired in-game, it would be a worthless reward whenever that happened. Strategy As a result of the interplay between advantages and disadvantages, some players regard the Myrran Retort as a needlessly dangerous pick. They prefer starting with a weaker race on Arcanus, then slowly building up strength to the point where they can tackle both the neutral dangers on Myrror as well as any wizards living there. Furthermore, the high cost of this Retort may seem like a high price to pay, considering that it could be spent to add 3 more Spellbooks to the player's shelf, or up to three other Retorts. Most advanced players, however, will make the most out of their chosen Starting Race and unique geographical position, leveraging it to win the game. They may have a harder time making headway in the early game, but will become extremely powerful towards the late game, which is really where it counts the most. In most cases, a Myrran wizard is practically unbeatable once they've conquered their home plane; it's only a question of whether they can perform this task at all before the Arcanian wizards break through. In either case, playing as a Myrran Wizard requires some experience with the game. It can be murderous to novice players. Category: Retorts